Chapter 36

“Why hasn’t Dr. Ren come by these past few days?”

The young nurse casually mentioned it while checking Bai Wei’s wound. Bai Wei simply replied, “Dr. Ren is always busy with important matters.”

Ever since Qiao Min’s visit, Ren Junyao had disappeared from Bai Wei’s hospital room. To be honest, Bai Wei found this quite surprising. A few days ago, Ren Junyao kept subtly boasting in front of Bai Wei about his family, his job, and his gentle and virtuous wife. Every time, he would bring up Bai Wei’s husband: “But, being a repairman and earning one’s own living is quite commendable too.”

An unmistakable sense of superiority. He also believed that Bai Wei had paid for both her house and Lu Sen’s shop. Although he himself had become a son-in-law who married into his wife’s family, he pitied Bai Wei for doing the same and financially supporting her husband: “Although husband and wife are one, it still sounds like he lacks ambition. My wife’s brother works at the town bank and has some connections with the mayor. If Lu Sen is willing, I can introduce him to a job, maybe starting as a bank teller…”

A job? And one that involves dealing with people all the time?

Just thinking about it gave Bai Wei a headache. So far, only he knew that Lu Sen was a monster. If he let Lu Sen work as a bank teller or even a junior civil servant, in less than two months, the whole town of Xueshan would find out that Lu Sen was a monster!

So Bai Wei declined. Ren Junyao looked at Bai Wei with a hint of sympathy in his eyes. He thought Bai Wei was too proud to use connections and would rather have her husband be a poorly paid mechanic. This made Bai Wei furious.

“Many people had a crush on you during university. But they thought you were too aloof and felt unworthy of you, so they didn’t dare to approach,” Ren Junyao said. “If they knew… they would be very surprised.”

“Lu Sen has his own strengths,” Bai Wei said coldly.

On the surface, he defended his husband, but inside, he had only one thought:

Damn Lu Sen!

Thus, these past few days without Ren Junyao’s visits felt wonderful to Bai Wei. The young nurse wrote down some notes and said, “People in town used to say Dr. Ren was the perfect husband. But now, we think your husband is truly the best.”

Bai Wei: …

“When you got injured, he came to take care of you every day, squeezed into a small bed to sleep, and cooked for you. Even though he’s not a medical professional, he reviews your reports more carefully than anyone else and has self-studied a lot. A few days ago, even the chief was surprised by him. He accurately identified the causes of several difficult cases. The chief said it’s a pity Lu Sen didn’t study medicine; otherwise, he would be a genius doctor,” the young nurse said. “We all envy you!”

“He… is that impressive?” Bai Wei’s expression was strange.

“What are you talking about?”

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Lu Sen walked in with fresh fruit. The young nurse saw him and giggled, “Your wife is recovering quickly. She’ll be discharged in a couple of days!”

“Really? That’s great,” Lu Sen said.

Bai Wei: …

Is she really about to be discharged?

The young nurse left. Lu Sen was very happy. He placed the washed cherries on the small table and took Bai Wei’s wrist to check it.

Bai Wei asked, “These cherries?”

“They’re from the mother with the child who caused your fall,” Lu Sen said.

“Oh… I don’t like cherries. You can have them,” Bai Wei replied.

But Lu Sen didn’t eat the cherries immediately. He picked up cleaning tools and started tidying up the room, sweeping up the hair the nurse had shed before and after entering the ward. Bai Wei sat on the bed, watching Lu Sen’s compulsive cleaning with suspicion. For a moment, he thought this scene wasn’t too bad. If Lu Sen were human and could suppress his burgeoning murderous intent towards the world, maybe they could go on like this.

“I have to go out this afternoon,” Lu Sen said. “I need to buy some things.”

“What do you need to buy?” Bai Wei asked casually.

“Gifts. For the doctors, nurses, the head nurse, and the hospital director… Aren’t you being discharged in a couple of days? We need to thank them for their care,” Lu Sen explained.

This monster Lu Sen had actually learned to socialize. His generosity and kindness had indeed spread throughout the small town via the hospital.

Bai Wei thought, not only that, but this monster Lu Sen had also become the “perfect husband” in the eyes of the hospital staff.

But these people didn’t know about Lu Sen’s abnormalities.

Every night, when Lu Sen slept, he would stop breathing. The sink he used would have strange liquids. Every night, Bai Wei would fall into a deep sleep because of a peculiar smell, and wake up to find his wrist feeling hot. On the surface, Lu Sen ate human food, but Bai Wei had seen him chewing on live fish…

Thinking positively, Lu Sen was helping him heal his wrist, but what if things went wrong?

Lu Sen could accelerate the healing of his wrist, but he could also drive Bai Wei from frigidity to the other extreme. And then? Who knew what Lu Sen would do to his body next? He was a lawless monster without human thoughts. He tricked Bai Wei into coming here and wouldn’t let him leave. Who knew what his past and present motives were?

Moreover, Lu Sen’s reputation was now so good. This meant that in the future, if Bai Wei wanted to kill Lu Sen under the pretense of his mental instability or domestic violence, it would arouse the suspicion of the townspeople.

Bai Wei suddenly felt a chill. He looked at Lu Sen’s back, and the illusory warmth faded, leaving behind cold tension and vigilance. The more Lu Sen acted like a human, the more terrified Bai Wei became.

Lu Sen noticed Bai Wei’s cold and hot demeanor towards him and attributed it to the nervousness before being discharged. Fortunately, in two days, they could return to their warm home.

The mother who had been helped and her friend came to thank Bai Wei. She had tidied her hair and clothes, looking much better than on the day of the accident. Bai Wei accepted her gift. Lu Sen, however, asked, “Where is your husband?”

“He’s busy,” the woman smiled bitterly.

Her friend, however, looked angry. Facing Bai Wei, she smiled and said, “You’re always welcome to visit my café in the future. Everything is 30% off for you.”

The two women left the ward together. The helped mother said, “Thank you for coming with me even though you’re pregnant…”

“It’s just a checkup, no big deal. Besides, we recently hired a new helper at the store… Lao Li! Come and carry the bags!”

It was a weekday. Qiao Min and Wei Lian were at work, but many doctors and nurses came to see them off. This was undoubtedly the result of the efforts of Bai Wei and Lu Sen together. Bai Wei hadn’t expected that among those seeing them off was Ren Junyao, who hadn’t been seen for several days.

“Congratulations on being discharged, junior,” Ren Junyao smiled. “Xiaodong and I took leave to help you move your things.”

In front of people, Ren Junyao was graceful, but Bai Wei could see a hint of resentment in his eyes. Soon, Bai Wei understood the reason.

“You never mentioned this before. I only found out from Xiaodong that Lu Sen studied in France, ran an art gallery, and has dual degrees,” Ren Junyao said. “You’re really good at hiding in plain sight. Lu Sen, you’re quite the low-key person.”

He tried to speak in a relaxed tone, but Bai Wei, being directly involved, could clearly hear his jealousy and disappointment. It was obvious that he had previously thought Lu Sen was just a pretty face with a good figure, working diligently for Bai Wei. He assumed Bai Wei picked Lu Sen like a rich girl would pick a handsome country boy.

The uneducated handsome country boy was unprofessional even as a mechanic, not thinking about improving his skills, and lazing around in an empty shop. As for buying a house, a car, and various extravagances, he used the money of Bai Wei, a disgraced writer who couldn’t produce anything anymore. For such a couple to move to the snowy mountain town and shut themselves in for half a year was quite predictable.

But the truth was, Lu Sen was also a rich young master, a well-known and wealthy young man. Besides, even if the money was spent lavishly, he had two degrees. One in the high art of aesthetics and another in practical finance. Moreover, on the cruise ship, he organized various activities, showing his leadership skills.

So, those houses and cars were probably bought by both Bai Wei and Lu Sen… possibly with Lu Sen paying the larger share… Ren Junyao suddenly felt like a clown, reveling in his petty pride.

Recalling his recent veiled bragging to Bai Wei, Ren Junyao felt even more ashamed.

Bai Wei, however, was shocked: “You mean, he…”

Lu Sen had learned a new human vice—bragging?

Dual degrees and running an art gallery, he really dared to boast!

“They knew each other before. Isn’t that right, Lu Sen?” Ren Junyao said, “You’re quite a famous person. She heard about you from classmates even before boarding the ship.”

What boarding, what studying abroad? Bai Wei could swear by his interactions with Lu Sen that he thought Lu Sen had never attended school, let alone studied finance, art, or mathematics! Lu Sen even thought that Monet was Chinese!

But Bai Wei quickly realized that Ren Junyao must be referring to “Lu Sen.” The one who was supposed to have a matchmaking meeting with him, the real “Lu Sen.”

Poor Bai Wei still didn’t know at this moment that the one who was supposed to have a matchmaking meeting with him was Wen Lu, Wen Sen’s twin sister. “Lu Sen” was just a stitched-up monster made by combining their profiles.

Wasn’t Lu Sen supposed to study architecture? With a major in architecture and a minor in psychology!

Of course, Bai Wei didn’t know that architecture and psychology were Wen Lu’s majors. He just assumed that Lu Sen had lied to him again, thinking that the resume was something Lu Sen had fabricated. As for how Lu Sen fooled Bai Wei’s grandfather, Bai Wei couldn’t figure it out but still felt that monsters were capable of anything.

But Ren Junyao’s words became terrifying. There really was another “Lu Sen” in this world, and this “Lu Sen” had taken his place in the matchmaking meeting with Bai Wei… so where did the real “Lu Sen” go?

Could he be dead… How did he die?

“Lu Sen?” The nearby doctor and nurse exclaimed, “I didn’t expect you to be so amazing!”

“Finance and mathematics… my God, could you help me check the stock market trends?”

Oh no… more important than this was not letting Lu Sen be exposed. Thinking of this, Bai Wei was about to glare at Lu Sen.

What was he thinking? It’s one thing to impersonate someone else. Now that life had settled down, why would he still boast in front of the people of Snow Mountain Town?

Aren’t you afraid of your lies being exposed?

—-

After getting in the car, Bai Wei was still painfully strategizing. The possibility that the real “Lu Sen” might have been killed scared him even more, but what was even more terrifying was that he had to help Lu Sen cover up his lies. Now, everyone in Snow Mountain Town thought Lu Sen was a human elite. Ren Junyao and the quiet Long Dong sat in the back of the car. Obviously, Ren Junyao was still not satisfied, and he asked Lu Sen kindly:

“Which university did you attend in France?”